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DID YOU HEAR

DID YOU HEAR

  • Oct 05, 2001
  • PDA, meet the PSA. NASA's Ames Research Center came up with the PSA, which has an LCD to display lists and schedules and track other information. Yes, it's made from commercial parts. No, you can't buy one. Only astronauts can use the softball-sized personal satellite assistant'an artificial intelligence device that propels itself via six small fans to sample air pressure and temperature aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station.

  • E-vigilance bag. How to pack for a flight these days? According to Personal Electronics Concealment LLC of Atlanta, you should take along a single-strap carryall with a personal digital assistant, a wireless phone and a digital camera to take pictures of hijackers, should any be on the plane. Personally, we'd opt for pepper spray.

  • Bleeding edge. A special recliner for people who donate blood components, which can take several hours compared to 20 minutes for donating whole blood, has many high-tech features. The e-Chair, from Baxter Healthcare Corp. of Deerfield, Ill., has a monitor and keyboard, DVD player, stereo headphones and Internet access.

  • 'The database.' That, according to last month's Arts and Entertainment cable network biography of Osama bin Laden, is what his al-Qaeda terrorist organization means in Arabic, rather than 'the base' as some media reported. A&E's Biography special on bin Laden called him the author of a terrorist database on an unspecified computer system. Meanwhile, USA Today said the al-Qaeda terrorists are using free, private-key encryption programs from privacy groups to embed their messages within photos posted on some of the Web's estimated 2 billion sites. Send fresh rumors'in the clear'to buzz@postnewsweektech.com.

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